(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a kaleidosphere. In particular, the present invention relates to a kaleidospherical device preferably having the appearance of at least a portion of three-dimensional, geodesic sphere and comprised of a plurality of tapered, three-sided tubes. Each tube has a large, viewing end and a small, open end forming an opening along the length of the tube. The inner surface of the tubes are reflective. The tubes are then bundled or group into a geodesically ordered arrangement having the taper of the tubes facing in a similar direction with adjacent tubes having their sides in contiguous abutting engagement. The bundle thus forms a kaleidosphere or a portion thereof having the shape of a geodesic device at the large end of the tubes. Placing an object to be viewed at the small end of the bundle forms an image of the object at the viewing end appearing as an inner spherical image positioned inside the kaleidosphere. When the object is moved or rotated, the image seen from the viewing end of the kaleidosphere will change in a swirling motion.
The kaleidosphere can be small enough to be held and rotated in a person's hand or it can be large enough to comprise a steel and glass geosphere used in a structural setting. Furthermore, the kaleidosphere can also serve as a piece of furniture, or as a work of art that can be enjoyed when viewed from afar.
(2) Prior Art
The prior art has described various types of kaleidoscopic devices that are typically comprised of a mirror configuration mounted in a housing. A sight aperture at one end of the housing enables a viewer to sight along the mirrors to see the pattern of an object to be viewed having the appearance of a multi-faceted image or design. A light source can also be used to enhance the image. The problem is that these types of kaleidoscopes need to be held close to the viewers eye to be appreciated and they do not provide a unique looking spherical image appearing to be positioned inside the kaleidoscope in a similar manner to the present invention.
A number of these prior art kaleidoscopic devices use a V-shaped mirror configuration formed by two mirrors having adjacent sides joined together and mounted in a housing. This type of kaleidoscopic device is illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. Re. 26,031 to Burnside III; 66,134 to Earnshaw; 132,978 to Pool; 151,005 to Bush; 243,537 to Farr: 407,937 to Lovibond; 1,518,204 to Husted; 2,066,548 to Thompson and 3,160,056 to Taylor. The mirror configurations in these devices are not tapered and the design formed is that of a multi-faceted image. These kaleidoscopes also require that the viewer place his eye close to a viewing aperture in the housing to appreciate the image formed. U.S. Pat. No. 1,394,480 to Fearn shows a plurality of V-shaped mirror units joined together around the circumference of a circular housing to form the general effect of a star.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,357,768 to Cox et al describes a two mirror apparatus with the mirrors hinged together at an apex of the mirrors. The mirrors can then be moved inwardly, towards each other or outwardly, away from each other to form three-dimensional images. This apparatus is adapted for viewing a swatch of fabric material to simulate a rug design.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,414 to Price shows the use of multiple units of mirrors mounted together in a housing to form a kaleidoscopic device. The mirror units comprise a variety of geometric shapes such as squares, rectangles and equilateral triangles joined to form a hexagonal shape or to form a corrugated, sawtooth configuration. The housing is provided with a front and a rear viewing aperture for looking at the multi-faceted image of an object distorted by the various mirror configurations. The mirrors are not described as being tapered.
Several prior art kaleidoscopic devices that do use tapered mirror configurations are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 862,438 to Boehm; 3,020,796 to Kaplan and 3,809,879 to Gonzalez. These devices generally use three trapezoidally shaped mirrors, with each mirror joined to its adjacent mirror to form a tapered reflective tube having a first, large end and a second, smaller end. The tube is then mounted in a housing having a viewing aperture. Typically, an observer looks through the viewing aperture to sight down the reflective tube from one of the ends to view an object placed at the other end.
There is no suggestion in the prior art of the use of a plurality of tapered tubes bundled together in an ordered geodesic arrangement to form a kaleidospherical device. The problem has always been that it is difficult to construct a bundle of tapered tubes into a geometrically ordered arrangement having more than one layer. The physical thickness of the planar members comprising the tubes makes it difficult to build the kaleidosphere.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,126 to Akins shows a visual display apparatus comprised of four mirrors arranged to form a tapered tube that diverges outwardly, away from the image of a television screen. The mirrors have their reflective surfaces facing inwardly and create an illusion that the image on the television screen has a spherical, polyhedral or some other three-dimensional shape. In FIGS. 5 and 6, Akins describes an embodiment having a plurality of visual display apparatus arranged so that the tapered mirror array for each apparatus is positioned adjacent its neighbor to form a circular arrangement of contiguous arrays. With the use of a corresponding number of television screens, the same image or a different image may be displayed on each visual display apparatus, around the annular extent of the apparatus. However, Akins makes no suggestion of the visual appeal provided by bundling a plurality of three-sided, tapered tubes together into a geodesically ordered arrangement to form a kaleidosphere.
Finally, Kenner discusses the mathematics of geodesic objects in Geodesic Math and How to Use It, published by University of California Press, 1976.
What is thus needed is a mirrored device comprised of a plurality of three-sided tapered tubes bundled together in a geodesically ordered arrangement to form a kaleidosphere. When there are provided only enough tubes to form a partial sphere and an object to be viewed is placed adjacent the smaller end of the tubes, the object forms an image at the large, viewing end of the kaleidosphere having the appearance of an inner sphere positioned inside the kaleidosphere. A person wishing to view the object can do so from afar and no matter what direction or position the viewing end of the kaleidosphere is looked at, the illusion of the inner sphere inside the kaleidosphere is maintained. The kaleidosphere can thus be viewed and appreciated by a large number of people at once and it can serve either as a work of art or as a piece of decorative furniture. The kaleidosphere can also be provided in the shape of a complete sphere and serve as a lamp, a chandelier or a reflective sphere hung from a ceiling.